The December holiday season is pure gold for the entertainment industry.

From Christmas music, which I love,  to TV specials and holiday themed episodes of TV series, some of which are good like the Eureka episode I mentioned in my last post and Glee’s funny homage to Christmas specials past.

Let’s not forget the holiday movies, whether on TV or in the theater, brand new or holiday classics like Holiday Inn, filled with wonderful Irving Berlin songs, and one very questionable number, see if you can figure it out in the clip:

and Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland, and featuring the now-holiday classic Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

And films of more recent vintage like Elf, The Polar Express and this year’s blockbuster installment of the chipmunks.

Not to mention the big films released in December to capture the holiday audience. This year, we had updates of the Mission Impossible and Sherlock Holmes franchises. BTW Sherlock is good, but it really drags in places, and Douglas fell asleep at the end. Do with that information what you will.

But for me going forward, my holiday movie of choice will have to be Paul. We rented it on Christmas Day, and I loved it so much I bought a copy the very next day, braving Best Buy on Boxing Day no less.

Have a Happy New Year!

I am somewhat stunned and more than a little embarrassed that I haven’t posted in nearly 3 months. It’s not for a lack of stories, trust me. Just some of the ones that are most consuming me cannot be told. Or at least, not yet.

Think of that as a teaser for next season if you like.

In the meantime, let me share a few things that we are enjoying this holiday season.

The Lighthouse Contest at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. (I liked #6, Doug liked #10)

Bryant Park Holiday Shops (through Jan. 8th ) and the Holiday Fair at Grand Central (ended December 24th, check it out next year.)

Glee’s 2011 Christmas Album

Eureka’s Holiday Episode: Watch online here.   And a clip:

Finally — my new year wish for you: http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=3259146674439&source=jl999

And a PS – which will also be cross-posted to Marketing Roadmaps — a HUGE thank you to everyone who purchased or read Professional Blogging For Dummies, and extra love to those who sent me an email. I am so glad people are finding the book helpful, and cannot tell you how much your kind words mean to me. You rock my socks.

Image by hz536n/George Thomas via Flickr

Things have been a bit unsettled here for a few weeks. I can’t really write about it now. Perhaps someday. But Douglas and I are doing okay, everyone’s health is good, and as the saying goes, this too shall pass.

Today (and starting last night) I am having a mini-marathon rewatching the British television series Poldark. Based on novels by Winston Graham, Poldark is a period drama set in Cornwall in the late 1700s. It aired in the US in the mid-seventies on PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre. I would go over to my grandparents’ house across the street every Sunday night to watch it with my grandmother.

The show holds up pretty well, more than 30 years later. The biggest difference is that when I first watched it at 13 years old, the actors all seemed, not old exactly, but certainly mature adults. And now, all I can think is that they all look so young.

But the story and the performances are still excellent, and the Cornish scenery is amazing.

If you like British period drama, and are looking for something to watch, check it out.

More: 

• ‘Poldark’: A Cornish Maxiseries If You’re Craving Pasties and Freckled Bosoms (theawl.com)
• On Netflix: Series 1 and Series 2

Shot Saturday August 27 around 6:30 pm after arriving in Penn Station on one of the last Amtrak trains north in advance of  Hurricane Irene. Camera:  my Olympus point-and-shoot

Image via Wikipedia

Strangers on a train. No, not the Alfred Hitchcock classic film with Farley Granger and Robert Walker where two strangers plot to commit each other’s murder.

Last fall, I started working for BlogHer in the NYC office. I commute every day on the Metro North New Haven line to Grand Central.

Every so often I tweet and post to Facebook about things I observe on the train. Often mini-rants about inconsiderate behavior on the part of fellow passengers but sometimes  simple observations or photos, like the first time I rode in one of the new cars.

Last week I posted about a clueless passenger who had placed his coffee on the floor under his seat, which had of course spilled all over the floor, and a college friend asked if I was going to start a blog about things I observe on the train.

Now I barely have time to keep up with the blogs I already have. Poor Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip hasn’t been updated since last summer, so I think we can officially say it is on hiatus! And I don’t want to write ranty posts about the poor behavior one observes on the train because it is pretty much the same stuff on a regular basis – coffee cups spilling on fellow passengers or their belongings. People putting their dirty briefcases on the seats. Their dirty feet on the seats. Taking off their shoes. Talking loudly on their mobile phones. Leaving their trash on the train. And all the possible combinations thereof.

But folks who could do with a refresher course in etiquette aren’t the only people I see on the train every day. Even though one generally doesn’t chat on the commuter train, I’ve managed to run into some interesting folks from Bridgeport to Midtown and back, and I thought it might be fun to start a semi-regular feature here on Snapshot Chronicles to tell you about them.

Right now, because it is summer, I seem to be meeting vacationers. A few weeks ago, coming home on a late train after a function in the City, I met a mother and daughter from Michigan who were on a five week tour of the East Coast. They were staying in Norwalk, had spent their first full day in New York, and were planning at least one more, before making their way up the coast toward Boston. The daughter herself had a 5 year old daughter who had remained back home in Michigan with her grandfather, and we chatted a while about being away from your child that long, and what was the right age to start bringing children on special vacations.

Then, last Wednesday morning, I met a grandmother and granddaughter from Texas who were exploring the city together for the grandaughter’s high school graduation trip. They were going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and were wondering which subway to take. They too had spent some of their vacation exploring the East Coast, driving all the way to Maine on one day!

I’ve also run into some really nice folks. Like the man this morning who let me take his seat because he was chatting away on the phone in the vestibule. And the gentlemen who held doors open for me this morning and afternoon.

Sometimes the strangers on the train are creepy dudes who take off their shoes and put their feet up on the seat opposite. And sometimes they are delightful people whose lives you get to touch for a moment.

I’ll share them both with you here from time to time.